I’m not sure how much I can call this a day off since I haven’t really been ‘on’ yet, and today was so busy, but regardless..

Today I got a new axle, went to the bike shop where learned how to true a wheel, replace a spoke, bought a spare chain and spare derailer and break cables, and went for a short 5-7 mile test ride.

I went through my bag and took out about 10 lbs worth of stuff, but probably added another 3 before going on the test ride, which went really well. I only had about 2/3 worth of the gear in the trailer but I went up and down some of the worst hills in my neighborhood with out any trouble. The bike is a little shaky on fast down hills with the trailer and feels a little funky after quick swerves (like to avoid rain gutters with out being in the road for too long) but over all feels pretty good. I’m a lot more confident this time around and hope to make it at least back to MA with out having any more major set backs.

I’m hoping to make it to DC by the 10th but this is looking pretty unrealistic. Some of my friends bands are playing there that night, so it’d be great to be able to see them there but from my rough calculations I’d have to go about 85 miles per day to make it there if I have 2 rest days, or 65 miles a day if I don’t rest at all. Both of those are probably at my limits right now, so its good incentive to ride hard, but we’ll see how it goes. I’ll probably be able to know if I can make it there in time after my first day of riding.

Its time for sleep now though. Check back in the morning for more exciting posts.

Well minutes after taking that last picture I headed out on my way… only to find that the axle I had used had gone bad. It was slightly bent to begin with, and with the weight of my gear (60-65 lbs.) I think it just went awry when I hit a bump. I suppose this all serves me right for not preparing properly. I had only put the trailer on my bike for the first time today, and only ridden with it once (without any gear) for about a mile. I had bought a new axel since I knew this one was damaged, and as it turned out too wide also (but we fixed this with a few washers), but last night when I was packing and this morning I couldn’t figure out where I had put it. I should have taken these as signs to start a day later but I was determined and tried to make things work but that just wasn’t enough. So now I’m home for another day or two, trying to find another axel, wrapping up the final paperwork on my apartment, trying to slim down the weight of my trailer, and going out for another, more vigorous, test ride before I go at this again, hopefully Thursday morning.